Critical Reading
Strategies – Unit 7
Prepared by
Professor Josette Valtierra
School of Legal Studies
Kaplan University
Agenda
 Housekeeping
 In the home stretch now, catch up right NOW
if you are behind
 Final paper should be in polishing stages ( due
at end of Unit 9)
 How to Improve Your reading
 SQ3R Methods
 Critical thinking improves reading and
learning
 Bottom Line
Cornerstone of your academic success
revolves around reading skill
 What is reading well?

Reading at an appropriate speed and with
strong comprehension of what you are
reading.
 Reading well is a skill that can be learned and
improved upon forever.
 For whatever reason, reading skill levels will
vary. Simple things can make big
improvements.
How fast do you read and how
important is that?
 Reading quickly is a
good thing but
comprehension is more
important.
 Do the little test in the
text book and see how
you measure up.
Tools to improve speed and
comprehension

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The material you are reading
An open mind
Pencils to make notes with
Highlighter
A notebook or notebook paper
Dictionary
To improve you reading style you need
to be an active reader
 Take the tests within
the chapter and see if
you are a passive or
active reader.
 Passive reading is
okay for pleasure
reading
 Active reading is a
must for academic
reading and
professional reading.
How to improve speed and
comprehension
 Concentration
 Vocabulary
 Fixation
 Frequency
 Focus on improving
these four aspects of
reading to improve your
speed and
comprehension.
How to Improve Concentration
 Reduce or eliminate outside distractions
 Reduce internal distractions like fatigue,
hunger, emotions, negative self talk, or
daydreaming
 Set a concrete goal of reading X amount of
material by Y time
 Take breaks every 20 minutes for about 3-5
minutes
 Take notes as you read
Build a Strong vocabulary
 If you don’t know the word, look it up
 Keep words on a list that you can review daily
 Work crossword puzzles and other word
games. ( like scrabble)

Personally, I like crossword puzzles and I am a scrabble nut! I also
like to Reader Digest vocabulary tests as well. They are kind of fun.
Keep it fun! ( play Scrabble on your Ipad or Iphone or better yet
with your family with the low tech board available at ToysRus,
Kmart, Target or Walmart, etc. Everyone can improve their
vocabulary
Fixation
 Fixation is when you eyes stop on a single
word for a fraction of a second.
 Your mind might see it like this

Nutrition is
important
to
good
health
 To improve your fixation try to see words in
bigger groups in groups of two or more
instead of singly as indicated above.

Nutrition is important
to good health
Frequency
 Read a lot! The more you read the better you
read. It doesn’t matter what you read, read for
pleasure for fun!
SQ3R – a specific Reading Strategy
for Academic or professional reading
 Survey
 Question
 Read
 Recite
 Review
Survey
 Generally, skim or pre read the chapter
 Skim the headings and subheadings
 Look at any charts or graphics
 Read the summary if there is one
 Read first and last sentence of each
paragraph
 Surveying is NOT a substitute for reading the
chapter
Question
 As you survey turn the headings into
questions.
 Think as you survey in terms of who, what,
where, why, when questions
 After you actually read the chapter answer
the questions you’ve posed.
Read
 Surveying WAS NOT reading. Now you read
slowly and carefully
 Read actively – taking notes, highlighting,
thinking about what your are reading as you
read it.
 Do the following as you read:
■ Read the entire paragraph before you mark anything.
■ Identify the topic or thesis statement of each paragraph and
highlight it.
■ Highlight key phrases.
■ Don’t highlight too much; the text will lose its significance.
■ Stop and look up words that you do not know or understand.
Read ( cont’d)
 Take elaborate notes
 Several note taking methods listed in the text
book. Try one or two of those methods listed.
 Circle unfamiliar words and look them up as
you read.
 Next slide shows some sample methods.
Recite
 After you’ve read the chapter just ask
yourself, what was that about? Try and teach
it to a classmate or friend.
Review – A Crucial Step!!!!
 A crucial step in any effective reading
strategy, if you do nothing else DO THIS!!!!
 Go back and read it again – including all
your marginal notes and highlighting! This is
crucial!
What follows next is a different way of
saying what we just said!
 Active reading applies critical thinking to your
reading!
 Similarities to the SQ3R method, but just
broken down a bit more
Apply Critical Thinking to Improve
your Reading Comprehension
Prepare to
Read
Active Reading
Organize
Critical
Thinking
Skills
Review
Interpret
Compare
Evaluate
Prepare to Read
 How does this information relate to your life?
 How can this information be useful to you?
 Be familiar with the material that you are
about to read.
Active Reading
 Take notes as you are reading.
 Highlight the most important material.
 As you read, ask yourself questions to
determine your comprehension of the
material.
Interpret
 Determine the purpose for which the material
is being written
Evaluate
 Is this information credible?
 Did the information come from a reputable
source?
 Is there anyone to verify the information?
Compare
 How do the ideas of this author compare with
similar material written by other authors?
Review
 Review the material.
 Review the concepts and think about the
most important points.
 Pay particular attention to those points that
you made an effort to highlight the first time
through
Organize
 How does all of the
info fit together?
 What’s the big
picture?
 Outline the data
What you bring to the printed page will affect
how you understand what you read, and
may be what is most important in
understanding what you read, so…...
Broaden your Horizons
Don’t limit your reading to school
reading.
Read Everything!
Strategies to activate your prior
knowledge:
 Brainstorming:
Examine the title of the selection you are
about to read. List all the information that
comes to mind about this title. Use these
pieces of information to recall and understand
the material. Use this knowledge to reframe
or reorder what you know, or to note what
you disagree with, for further research.
Group discussions:
Group discussions in and out of class will help you
to discover what you bring to your reading, what
your fellow students bring, as well as shared
experiences
If you find they have new background
information, ask for more information from them.
Pre-questions:
 Often chapters in texts provide organizing questions.
You can also write out a series of questions you expect to be answered
when reading:
Examples:
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Definition
What is....?
Where does ... fit?
What group does ... belong to?
Characteristics
How would I describe...?
What does ... look like?
What are its parts?
Examples
What is a good example of ...?
What are similar examples that share attributes but differ in some way?
Experience
What experience have I had with ....?
What can I imagine about ...?
Visual Aids:
 Pictures and other visual material can
activate your prior knowledge.
Use the Internet to search for pictures related
to your title/topic to give you visual images of
what you are about to read.
Advance Organizers:
 Relate new reading material to something
you already know, to your background or
experiences.
Additional Strategies
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Overviews:
Discussing information about the selection or assignment prior to reading must take place.
This may take the form of class discussions, printed previews, photographs, outlines, or films. Spend enough time before the
students begin the assignment to ensure understanding of it.
Vocabulary Previews:
Unfamiliar key words need to be taught to students before reading so that new words, background information, and
comprehension can improve together. List all words in the assignment that may be important for students to understand. Arrange
words to show the relationships to the learning task. Add words students probably already understand to connect relationships
between what is known and the unknown. Share information with students. Verbally quiz them on the information before
assigned reading begins.
Structural Organizers: Before reading an assignment, basic frameworks which are included in the text should be pointed out
such as cause-effect or problem-solution. It can be beneficial to call attention to specific plans of paragraph or text organization
such as signal words, main idea sentences, highlighted phrases, headings and subtitles. A review of skimming techniques might
also be appropriate as these various areas are covered. A Purpose for Reading: When students have a purpose for reading a
selection, they find that purpose not only directs their reading towards a goal, but helps to focus their attention. Purposes may
come from teacher directed questions, questions from class discussions or brainstorming, or from the individual student. Along
with the question, it is a good idea to pose predictions of the outcome and problems which need to be solved. These may be
generated by the student or the teacher, but the teacher should use these to guide students in the needed direction for the
assigned selection.
Author Consideration: Depending upon the content area, a discussion of the author of the particular work can be helpful to the
understanding of it. What is the author trying to say? What is his point of view and his reason for writing the particular work?
KWL: This strategy consists of three steps for students to use with expository text: What do I Know? What do I Want to learn?
What did I Learn? A good strategy for group discussions.
Develop a three column poster with each question in a column and list out responses.
See also: K - W - L (Saskatoon Public Schools)Adapted from
Porter, Karla, M.Ed., Prereading strategies, funded by the State Board of Education from Federal Funds, Weber State University.
Kaplan Tips to Improve Reading
Comprehension
The ability to improve your reading
comprehension depends on at least three
(3) factors:
1. Your Motivation to learn;
2. Your Concentration skills;
3. The use of a good Reading Method.
In addition to these three factors, you may also benefit from the tips and
strategies listed below.
Kaplan tips and strategies
1. Broaden your background knowledge. Read newspapers, magazines,
books, and professional journals. Become interested in current events,
particularly those happening within your career field. This will help you build a
stronger mental framework for ideas and concepts.
2. Create motivation and interest. Discuss ideas with your friends, family,
coworkers, and classmates.
3. Highlight what you think is most important. If you want to fully
understand what you are reading, reading it once is not enough. Highlight the
main ideas and review them after you have read the entire piece.
4. Strengthen your vocabulary. Building your vocabulary is a long process,
not an event that happens overnight. However, the more you know about the
language, the more you will understand. Keep a dictionary handy and look up
words that are not familiar.
5. Use a systematic reading method, such as SQ3R! SQ3R stands for
Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review.
My personal tips
 My personal tips are an amalgamation of
everything that we’ve covered, but I do have
a few special things that have helped me in
college and law school.
 I have read interesting stuff and deadly dull
stuff and stuff in Old English. There is a way
to do it all!
Personal Tip #1
 Read a lot and read
everything
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Find a genre, a favorite
newspaper and read it
religiously.
The only way to get good
at reading and reading
comprehension is to read..
If you don’t read a lot for
pleasure… you just
haven’t found the right
thing to read yet… go to
the library and look for
something that interests
you or go to the comic
book store.
Personal Tip #2: What to do if the
reading is DULL
 Mr. Cargile
 My 5th grade English

Teacher! He had an
amazing voice. Whenever
I couldn’t stand to read
another word in the 18th
century novel I had to
read, I’d imagine Mr.
Cargile and that would get
me through.
Choose your own Mr.
Cargile! – Hugh Jackman,
Susan Sarandon, James
Earl Jones, whoever can
keep you focused!
Personal Tip #3
 Don’t read when you
are sleepy. Go to bed
and read when you are
MOST awake.
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Morning person?
Night Owl?
If you aren’t awake you
won’t retain much.
Read when awake, not
asleep!
Bottom Line
This may seem like it will take MORE time than
less.
 It’s about where you spend you time and how
your result from time spent is improved.
 Putting this time in at the front end of your
academic work will improve you’re the back
end – your work product.
 Ultimately, this results in LESS time so you
are working ….
 WORKING SMARTER NOT HARDER